--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Freedom has ceased to be a birthright; it…" description: "\"Freedom has ceased to be a birthright; it has come to mean whatever we are still permitted to do.\" — Joseph Sobran" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/joseph-sobran-6902_birthright_freedom-has-ceased-to-be-a-birthright-it_1901440.jpg" --- # Freedom has ceased to be a birthright; it has come to mean… ![“Freedom has ceased to be a birthright; it has come to mean whatever we are still permitted to do.” quote by Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/joseph-sobran-6902_birthright_freedom-has-ceased-to-be-a-birthright-it_1901440.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/joseph-sobran-6902_birthright_freedom-has-ceased-to-be-a-birthright-it_1901440.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/joseph-sobran-6902_birthright_freedom-has-ceased-to-be-a-birthright-it_1901440.jpg) > “Freedom has ceased to be a birthright; it has come to mean whatever we are still permitted to do.” [Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Freedom is now defined by what we are still allowed to do, not a guaranteed birthright. **In simple terms:** Freedom is limited by permission. Key Takeaway Recognize and protect the rights we still have. Themes freedom rights politics Mood reflective concerned Type political philosophical When to use this quote - activism - policy advocacy - personal responsibility - public discourse Key Concepts social contract civil liberties Questions to Reflect On - What rights do you take for granted? - How can you defend remaining freedoms? A Different Perspective Freedom can be eroded by complacency or authoritarianism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Birthright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birthright/) [Ceased](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ceased/) [Ceased Birthright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ceased-birthright-2809102/) [Freedom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom/) [Freedom Ceased](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freedom-ceased-2809101/) [Mean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean/) [Mean Permitted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mean-permitted-2809103/) [Stills](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stills/) ## Related quotes > [“Disqualified as a human being. 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Each of these seems like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/liberalism-s-fatal-flaw-is-that-it-has-no-permanent-norms-only-a/) [Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/) > [Altering the Constitution has become the daily business of the Federal Government which the document is supposed to guide and limit. Both Congress and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/altering-the-constitution-has-become-the-daily-business-of-the/) [Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/) > [The prevailing notion is that the state should be neutral as to religion, and furthermore, that the best way to be neutral about it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/the-prevailing-notion-is-that-the-state-should-be-neutral-as-to/) [Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/) > [Controlling the interpretation of the Constitution is vital to the leftist agenda of expanding the federal government's power. 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Conservatives should make them spell out their principles and ideals. 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As I sometimes put it, the U.S. Constitution poses no serious threat to our form of government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/i-call-the-present-system-post-constitutional-america-as-i-sometimes/) [Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/) > [Most Americans aren't the sort of citizens the Founding Fathers expected; they are contented serfs. Far from being active critics of government, they assume…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/most-americans-aren-t-the-sort-of-citizens-the-founding-fathers/) [Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/) > [Because the state can no longer protect us from crime, it wants to take away from us the means of protecting ourselves. This is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/because-the-state-can-no-longer-protect-us-from-crime-it-wants-to/) [Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/) > [Some people don't mind a little constitutional sophistry in a good cause; and for liberals, centralizing all power in the federal government is always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/some-people-don-t-mind-a-little-constitutional-sophistry-in-a-good/) [Joseph Sobran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/) [Explore all 96 Joseph Sobran quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/) ## More Birthright quotes > [“Do not trade your birthright as a mother for some bauble of passing value. Let your first interest be in your home. The baby…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gordon-b-hinckley/do-not-trade-your-birthright-as-a-mother-for-some-bauble-of-passing/) [Gordon B. Hinckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gordon-b-hinckley/) > [It is your birthright to live a life abundant in love. Make the commitment today to open your heart and let your love flow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-simon/it-is-your-birthright-to-live-a-life-abundant-in-love-make-the/) [David Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-simon/) > [Now, we are agreed, I and my destinies. The total world, Above, below, whate'er is seen or known, And all that men, and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/now-we-are-agreed-i-and-my-destinies-the-total-world-above-below/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [“You're not like other Wasps." "Aren't I?" Aagen smiled, but it was a painful smile. "No doubt you've killed my kinsmen by the score."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrian-tchaikovsky/you-re-not-like-other-wasps-aren-t-i-aagen-smiled-but-it-was-a/) [Adrian Tchaikovsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrian-tchaikovsky/) > [I believe that many lives around us now can reflect this strange pattern of migration and movement. The question is: are we aware of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-dawes/i-believe-that-many-lives-around-us-now-can-reflect-this-strange/) [Kwame Dawes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-dawes/) > [We often block our own blessings because we don't feel inherently good enough or smart enough or pretty enough or worthy enough... You're worthy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oprah-winfrey/we-often-block-our-own-blessings-because-we-don-t-feel-inherently/) [Oprah Winfrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oprah-winfrey/) > [Congress decides who becomes a citizen and how. To automatically say the 14th Amendment grants birthright citizenship, no, we can't change that. Amending the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/congress-decides-who-becomes-a-citizen-and-how-to-automatically-say/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [None of us is born thinking we are ordinary. Feeling special is an essential part of the human birthright. If you don't think you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shmuley-boteach/none-of-us-is-born-thinking-we-are-ordinary-feeling-special-is-an/) [Shmuley Boteach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shmuley-boteach/) > [It's like a woman's birthright to knit. It's primal. It's timeless. You don't need electricity to knit. You can do it with a candle,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracey-ullman/it-s-like-a-woman-s-birthright-to-knit-it-s-primal-it-s-timeless-you/) [Tracey Ullman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracey-ullman/) > [Flourishing is everyone's birthright. I'm trying to break this hold that being smiley and cheery has on what people think the good life is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jurvetson/flourishing-is-everyone-s-birthright-i-m-trying-to-break-this-hold/) [Steve Jurvetson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jurvetson/) > [People shouldn't think that something is their birthright. They need to prove themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janhvi-kapoor/people-shouldn-t-think-that-something-is-their-birthright-they-need/) [Janhvi Kapoor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janhvi-kapoor/) > [It is your birthright to discover your sacred contract. It will guide you to find your divine destiny.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-myss/it-is-your-birthright-to-discover-your-sacred-contract-it-will-guide/) [Caroline Myss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-myss/) > [Freedom is the alone unoriginated birthright of man, and belongs to him by force of his humanity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/freedom-is-the-alone-unoriginated-birthright-of-man-and-belongs-to/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [The Society is based on that great bottom law of human right, that nothing but crime can forfeit liberty. That no condition of birth,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-dwight-weld/the-society-is-based-on-that-great-bottom-law-of-human-right-that/) [Theodore Dwight Weld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-dwight-weld/) > [We have sold our birthright of freedom and justice for a mess of national security.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-sloane-coffin/we-have-sold-our-birthright-of-freedom-and-justice-for-a-mess-of/) [William Sloane Coffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-sloane-coffin/) [Browse all 263 Birthright quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/birthright/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Freedom has ceased to be a birthright; it has come to mean whatever we are still permitted to do.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joseph Sobran" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/freedom-has-ceased-to-be-a-birthright-it-has-come-to-mean-whatever-we/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Birthright" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/freedom-has-ceased-to-be-a-birthright-it-has-come-to-mean-whatever-we/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/joseph-sobran-6902_birthright_freedom-has-ceased-to-be-a-birthright-it_1901440.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/joseph-sobran-6902_birthright_freedom-has-ceased-to-be-a-birthright-it_1901440.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/joseph-sobran-6902_birthright_freedom-has-ceased-to-be-a-birthright-it_1901440.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Freedom has ceased to be a birthright; it has come to mean whatever we are still permitted to do.” — Joseph Sobran", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Joseph Sobran", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-sobran/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Freedom has ceased to be a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/freedom-has-ceased-to-be-a-birthright-it-has-come-to-mean-whatever-we/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-sobran/freedom-has-ceased-to-be-a-birthright-it-has-come-to-mean-whatever-we/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```